"" The Obama administration is facing a
serious scandal in which government
officials are alleged to have falsified data
to hide how long veterans were waiting to
see doctors at VA hospitals. The
controversy has led to calls for the
resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary
Eric Shinseki, who has served for five
years. Here is a timeline of events leading
up to the current situation, which
President Obama on Wednesday called
"intolerable" and "disgraceful."
• Early 2012: Dr. Katherine Mitchell, a
Veterans Affairs emergency-room
physician, warns Sharon Helman,
incoming director of the Phoenix VA
Health Care System, that the Phoenix ER
is overwhelmed and dangerous. Mitchell
now alleges she was told within days by
senior administrators that she had
deficient communication skills and was
transferred out of the ER.
• Later in 2012: The U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs orders implementation of
electronic wait-time tracking and makes
improved patient access a top priority. In
December, the Government Accountability
Office tells the Veterans Health
Administration that its reporting of
outpatient medical-appointment wait
times is "unreliable."
• March 2013: The GAO's Debra Draper
tells a House subcommittee: "Although
access to timely medical appointments is
critical to ensuring that veterans obtain
needed medical care, long wait times and
inadequate scheduling processes at
VAMCs (medical centers) have been
persistent problems."
• July 2013: In an e-mail exchange
among employees at the Carl T. Hayden
VA Medical Center in Phoenix, an
employee questions whether
administrators are improperly touting
their Wildly Important Goals program. "I
think it's unfair to call any of this a
success when veterans are waiting six
weeks on an electronic waiting list before
they're called to schedule their first PCP
(primary-care provider) appointment,"
program analyst Damian Reese
complains.
• September 2013: Mitchell files a
confidential complaint intended for the VA
Office of Inspector General, channeled
through Arizona Sen. John McCain's
office. Her list of concerns instead goes to
the Office of Congressional and Legislative
Affairs and eventually back to the VA.
Mitchell, meanwhile, is placed on
administrative leave.
• October 2013: Dr. Sam Foote, a doctor
of internal medicine at the Phoenix VA,
files a complaint with the VA Office of
Inspector General alleging purported
successes in reducing wait times stem
from manipulation of data, and that vets
are dying while awaiting appointments for
medical care.
• December 2013: Foote retires, assuming
the role of whistle-blower by meeting with
Arizona Republic reporter Dennis Wagner.
He details allegations that patients have
died while awaiting care at the Phoenix
VA and that wait times have been
falsified.
• April 9: Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla.,
chairman of the House Committee on
Veterans' Affairs, says during a hearing
that dozens of VA hospital patients in
Phoenix may have died while awaiting
medical care. He says staff investigators
have evidence that the Phoenix VA Health
Care System keeps two sets of records to
conceal prolonged waits for appointments.
• April 16: A Phoenix rally organized by
Concerned Veterans for America and
attended by Rep. David Schweikert, R-
Ariz., draws 150 veterans and their
supporters calling for solutions to the
controversy.
• May 1: U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Eric Shinseki places Helman and two
others on administrative leave pending an
outcome to the inspector general's probe.
• May 2: Mitchell goes public with her
allegations about mismanagement of the
Phoenix VA system and her concerns
about wait times, noting that she and a
co-worker moved to protect some
documents as evidence.
• May 5: The American Legion's national
leaders call for Shinseki's resignation.
Shinseki says he intends to stay put.
• May 8: Shinseki orders records audits of
all VA health-care facilities around the
U.S. a day after U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick,
D-Ariz., makes the request.
• May 9: McCain, R-Ariz., holds a town
hall in Phoenix where he proposes a new
system that would allow veterans to go
outside the VA to seek private health care
at government expense.""
Link.


Why does this mfer still have a job?

Ive been saying this for YEARS!

"" (CNN) -- At least 40 U.S. veterans died
waiting for appointments at the Phoenix
Veterans Affairs Health Care system, many of
whom were placed on a secret waiting list.
The secret list was part of an elaborate
scheme designed by Veterans Affairs
managers in Phoenix who were trying to hide
that 1,400 to 1,600 sick veterans were forced
to wait months to see a doctor, according to a
recently retired top VA doctor and several
high-level sources.""
Link.

Its just f*cking sickening!

I saw this on the news, just plain ridiculous.

And the list of va hospitals involved in this is getting bigger every day.

More disgust....

"" Employees at the embattled Phoenix office of
the Department of Veterans Affairs have been
making millions in higher-than-average
salaries and bonuses, according to federal
records reviewed by Fox News.
The records were obtained via a Freedom of
Information Act request by
OpentheBooks.com .
They show that from 2011 to 2013, over
$843,000 in bonuses was awarded to about
half the system's 3,170 workers.
The records also show hundreds of thousands
in taxpayer dollars were spent on work that
had little to do with health care. The
hospital's 2013 gardening budget was more
than $180,000. The hospital's interior design
bills over the past three years surpassed
$211,000.""

Link.

Buncha gotdam thieves.....thats all they are. Despicable!

My sister HATED the VA hospital in HI, it had a reputation of "go in with a stubbed toe, come out without a kidney" they are KNOWN for screwing sh^t up.
Someone my sister knew went in to have a baby and the staff went to give the newborn oxygen and instead gave it the wrong gas, killing the infant. And this kind of stuff happens there all the time.
So hearing about this doesn't surprise me, it saddens me, but doesn't surprise me.

Yea here at the Jackson MS VA the care is pretty bad they just made it to were a veteran can get eye glasses but we have no dental department here yet!

Why not lets vets use private doctors? My dad (Bronze Star recipient, btw) in the last years of his life, had problems with his hip. He was shot through both hips while in the Army. His private doc said his probs were no doubt caused by being shot. I contacted the VA about getting him an increase in benefits. I was told he wld have to travel 2hrs to the nearest VA hosp for an evaluation...a trip he cldnt make because of his condition. I contacted my local congressman, Rodney Alexander, abt having a local orthopedic doc, a well respected doc, ten times more qualified than the VA doc, do the eval. Was told that wldnt do......total ineptness and lets just call it what it really is.......bullsh!t, unadulterated bullsh!t.

Smh. Gotta love that Obama plan for change.

Btw, as much as I wanna blame it on him, this isnt an Obama problem....its an issue plaqing us for several decades now. No veteran, ESPECIALLY a war time veteran, should EVER be in need of QUALITY healthcare...they f*ckin earned it!